Batman: The Cult Vol 1 4
In the middle of the night, Batman and Robin confront Blackfire's followers guarding the Abraham Lincoln Bridge by ramming the barricade they have placed using their new Monster Truck Batmobile. Heavily armored and equipped with endless ammunition, the Monster Batmobile breaks all the barriers along its way. Robin fires tranquilizer darts to those shooting at them from the streets and once there is only one man standing, Batman descends from his monster vehicle and tells the man to pass on a last warning to Deacon Blackfire. Batman keeps driving the car, deeper into the City and they encounter more of Blackfire's followers, who prove to be relentless enemies as they keep the massacre of innocents, even in the face of adversity and ultimate defeat. Upon learning of Batman's daring move, Blackfire rejoices in the fact that the time of his reckoning has finally come and he prepares to meet his glorious destiny. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin keep driving towards Gotham Square, the closest connection to Blackfire's headquarters in the sewers. Upon reaching their destination, Batman and Robin are horrified to witness the grim scenes of death and torture all over the city. Surprisingly, they find Gotham Square emtpy, but Batman knows it's a trap and they prepare their last stand. True to Batman's deduction, dozens of Blackfire's followers appear from the shadows and surround the vehicle, crawling and destroying the vehicle's armor. Once they breach into the monster truck, the thugs are shocked to find it empty and before they could react, knockout gas comes from the vehicle, taking out the thugs inside and outside of the car. Batman and Robin had already moved out of the car through a hatch on the floor, which allowed them to sneak into the sewers unnoticed. Down in the sewers, Batman and Robin have to overcome many more of Blackfire's followers and armed with their tranquilizer guns, night vision gear, gas pellets, explosives and gas masks, the heroes manage to defeat them all, but Robin is injured in the leg. Once Batman has taken down the man responsible, he provides Robin some bandages to keep him from bleeding while he continues deeper into the sewers and confronts the ultimate evil. Walking towards Blackfire's inner sanctum, Batman comes across several hanged men, all of whom were previously close followers of Blackfire. Finally, Batman arrives to Blackfire's arena, where the madman is waiting for him inside as several of his followers surround the arena on high seats. Blackfire challenges Batman to kill him with the gun he had picked from one of his followers, but Batman refuses to use it against Blackfire and instead, he throws the weapon aside, denying Blackfire of his much desired martydoom. Enraged, Blackfire attacks Batman with a knife, but his fighting skills are no match for that of Batman, who easily overcomes and disarms him. Blackfire urges Batman to use the knife to kill him, but Batman drops the knife and instead, beats Blackfire to a pulp. Batman's combat training allows him to inflict the more painful damage possible without knocking Blackfire unconscious. When Blackfire can no longer stand and has been reduced to a bloody pulp, he begs for Batman's mercy, showing a clear sign of weakness in front of all his followers. His second in command notices the danger and he attempts to shoot at Batman, but he is stopped by a well aimed tranquilizer dart by Robin, who has made it to the arena with his injured leg. Thanks to the few seconds he had to recover, Blackfire then commands his followers to eliminate the Batman, but once they drop into the arena, they turn against him with thirst for blood. Batman and Robin are unable to save Blackfire from the wrath of the same monsters he created as they are outnumbered. Like this, Batman and Robin leave the sewers while the murdering maniacs obliterate Deacon Blackfire. Not long after these events, order is restored to Gotham City as the authorities are finally able to get into the city. Most of Gotham's survivors are taken to medical centers while those who were part of Blackfire's cult are arrested and pending trial. Many of those who abandoned Gotham return once everything is in order and the countless of homeless who arrived to the city to join Blackfire, start to abandon the place or return to the streets. A new acting Mayor is assigned and Batman decides to end the whole affair with one last unfinished business. Going down to the sewers, Batman finds the totem of Deacon Blackfire and burns the piece of wood to ashes. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * Antagonists: * ** Jake Baker Other Characters: * Acting Mayor Donald Webster * Fritz Wreichman * General Pry * ** * * * ** ** Locations: * ** *** Abraham Lincoln Bridge *** *** Sewers ** Jersey General Hospital ** Items: * Vehicles: * | Notes = * This issue is reprinted in the . | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}